I like taking 1-2 courses every year to help improve my skills as a furniture maker. These courses provide tuition in working with other materials, but also help inspire new design thoughts & methods of working in the workshop…

Chef Knife made in Barcelona - inspired future furniture designs

In July 2022 I travelled to Barcelona, Spain to participate in a course to make a chef’s knife with two of my favourite culinary knifemakers – Tomer Botner of Florentine Kitchen Knives (FKK) and Geoff Feder of Feder Knives. FKK has a distinctive handle style with stacked discs of micarta (a composite material) and leather, bookended by brass (the bolster & pommel) to create intricate patterns of colour & texture. I found the assembly process of laying out the individual discs to create the pattern, followed by stacking & gluing each piece very meditative, and whilst constructing my handle, I started wondering about the potential for this process & design for furniture. My first inclination was towards a drawer face, which I wanted to pair with a simple side table, constructed of a single timber, that would act as a juxtaposition to the patterned drawer face, like the blade of the chef’s knife does with the stacked handle. Upon my return to the workshop the following week, I designed an oak table with simple tapered legs, with a rounded profile on all edges that would become the counterpart to a laminated drawer face, constructed of alternating pieces of walnut, sapele & spalted beech. Lastly, I wanted to incorporate some brass to the design, so the drawer box has brass dowels & the leg stretchers are brass rod - the unique design became The Florentine Table - available now to purchase from the store

This trip was an excellent study in design & creativity for me, plus improving my workshop processes

This year I just got back (August 2023) from Thornwood Forge in Somerset, UK run by the talented Joe Garnett. We made an Outdoor Knife for carving & general outdoor use - running a smallholding alongside the furniture workshop meant this was a great course to take home a really practical tool, but more importantly, an opportunity to further improve & hone my forging skills, that I’ve been working on between client work in the new metal shop. Joe is an excellent teacher, passionate about his craft & it’s always great to get the opportunity to work with him - check out his webiste www.thornwoodforge.com

Back in the workshop, I’ve forged some holdfasts for my traditonal workbench - these are excllent holding tools to clamp work pieces on the bench. I also made a simple bench dog to fit in the “dog holes” of my bench, again used with an end vise to clamp a work piece. Lastly, I’ve started prototyping a forged marking knife, used in the intricate layout for accurate joinery - hopefully I’ll develop the technique to make these items future products on my website - you can see me making & using these items in an upcoming YouTube video (release Sept ‘23)

Although my forging needs more work before I’m comfortable offering items for sale from the metal shop, a new product/tool I am happy with is my DRC500 Measuring Gauge - a tool for accurate inside measurements using stainless steel rods (3 sizes), a brass carriage & stainless steel knurled screws to lock the rod positioning - Batch #1 delivered to customers in the UK, US & Canada - click here to see DRC500